Excerpt: 'Keep Me Safe' by Maya Banks

Maya Banks, author of Keep Me Safe, shares on excerpt from her latest release and sets it up for us …

Maya: Keep Me Safe is the first book in the Slow Burn series, a series that is romantic suspense that features a unique, psychic ability possessed by the heroine of each book. The whole idea, not only for Keep Me Safe, but for the entire Slow Burn series came to me several years ago when a scene popped into my head. It was so powerful and evocative that I simply couldn't let go of it. And that idea lived in my head for YEARS before I was finally able to translate it to paper and actually publish it.

That scene, coincidentally my favorite scene in the entire book, is the opening scene of Keep Me Safe. I had imagined SO many times Caleb going to Ramie for help in finding his kidnapped sister, her refusing, which enraged Caleb. He was furious and thought her selfish for not using her "gift" to help others. He had no idea what using her powers did to Ramie. Had no idea that, when she established a link between herself and the victim, that she experienced every single thing the victim did. Endured everything the victim endured.

When he forces his sister's scarf into Ramie's hands, holding her hands tightly so she couldn't drop it, couldn't escape, she went straight into the depths of hell. Caleb watched in horror as she suffered what his sister suffered, and it was then he realized just what he'd done. What he'd forced on this fragile woman who appeared at her very breaking point.

He is utterly remorseful and determined to somehow make it up to Ramie, but she begs him to leave. To go save his sister and to leave her alone. But he vows to himself — and her — that he will return and he will make it up to her for what he forced on her.

But when he does return, she's gone.

This was the scene that began it all for Keep Me Safe as well as the entire series. Ideas for different stories began to unfold in my mind, and it was frustrating for me because I SO wanted to write these books, but it just never seemed to be the right time. So when I was offered the opportunity to FINALLY write this series? You can bet I jumped on it with both hands.

The series isn't paranormal romance, or at least I don't consider it such. It's romantic suspense with psychic elements. Apart from the heroines, who possess extraordinary abilities, the rest of the story is very real world. Set today in modern society. No alternate universe with paranormal beings. No vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, etc. The underlying thread in all the stories simply poses the question, "what if?" What if in today's world someone had a psychic ability? What kind of obstacles would they have to overcome?

I love this series and the premise, and I dearly hope my readers will as well!

Here's an excerpt from chapter one of Keep Me Safe:

Caleb Devereaux turned out of the sharp switchback and onto the driveway leading up to the tiny mountain cabin, swearing when he hit pothole after pothole. Fury and impatience simmered in his blood but the anticipation of having finally found Ramie St. Claire after an exhaustive search kept his mood from being completely black.

Ramie was his sister, Tori's, only hope.

The moment Tori was kidnapped, Caleb had begun his search for Ramie St. Claire. She certainly wasn't the first person on most people's go-to list when looking for a loved one. Ramie was psychic and had been helpful in locating victims in the past. While many would be skeptical, Caleb absolutely believed in Ramie's abilities.

His own sister had psychic abilities.

He and his brothers, Beau and Quinn, had always been extremely overprotective of their baby sister. With good reason. Caleb was the head of a veritable empire. Security was always top priority. They'd always feared kidnapping for ransom, but in their worst nightmares they'd never imagined that Tori would simply disappear and be at the mercy of a madman.

There'd been no ransom demand. Simply a video of Tori bound hand and foot and the maniacal laughter of her captor as he told Caleb to kiss his sister goodbye.

He just prayed he wasn't too late. God, don't let it be too late for Tori.

It infuriated him that Ramie St. Claire had simply dropped off the map three months ago. No trace of her, no forwarding ad- dress. No evidence that she even existed. How could she simply disappear when she was such an invaluable aid in finding kidnap victims and missing persons? How selfish of her to simply refuse, by her actions, to help anyone.

He'd worked himself into a rage by the time he finally pulled up to the small cabin that looked as though it wouldn't weather the upcoming winter at all. He wasn't even certain there would be electricity. Only a person determined not to be found would live in a place like this.

He got out and strode to the ramshackle front door, his fist up and pounding. The door shook and rattled under the force of his knock. Only silence greeted him and it sent his blood pressure soaring.

"Miss St. Claire!" he roared. "Answer the god**** door!"

He beat on the door again, shouting for her to answer. He likely looked and sounded like the madman holding his sister, but at this point he didn't care. He was beyond desperation. It had taken every resource available to him to finally track Ramie down. No way in hell he was leaving until he'd gotten the information he'd come for.

Then the door swung open and he was greeted by the sight of a petite woman with wary gray eyes. He was momentarily taken aback, going silent as he stared at Ramie St. Claire for the first time in person.

The photos he'd seen of her didn't do her justice. There was a delicate air to her as though she were recovering from an illness, but it in no way detracted from her beauty. She looked ... fragile. He felt a brief moment of guilt for what he was about to ask her to do, but he brushed it away. There was no price too high to pay for his sister's life.

"I can't help you."

Her softly spoken words slid like velvet over his ears, a direct contrast from the anger her refusal caused. He hadn't even made his request yet and she was already giving him the brush-off.

"You don't even know what it is I want," he said in an icy tone that would wither most people.

"It's rather obvious," she said wearily, fatigue drooping her eyelids. "Why else would you come all this way? I don't even want to know how you found me. It's obvious I did a piss-poor job of covering my tracks if you managed to find me here."

Caleb frowned. Had she been ill? Was that why she'd dropped out of sight, so she could recover? It didn't matter why now that he'd found her. He didn't care what her reasons were.

"With your abilities why would you purposely make yourself difficult to find?" he demanded. "My sister's life is at stake here, Miss St. Claire. I'm not merely asking you to help me. I'm not leaving until you do."

She shook her head adamantly, fear chasing the lethargy from her eyes. "I can't."

There was quiet desperation to her words that told him there was more to her refusal than what appeared on the surface.

Something was wrong and yet he couldn't summon any regret for forcing her compliance. Not when Tori's life hung in the balance.

He reached inside his jacket and pulled out Tori's scarf. The one item they'd found at the site where she must have been taken. In the parking lot of a grocery store beside the open door of her car. He should have never let her go alone. He'd failed her. Failed to protect her. Failed to ensure proper security.

Ramie immediately backed away, a desperate cry on her lips. He shoved forward, forcing the scarf into her hands and holding her and the scarf so there was no escape. She emitted a broken sob and she looked up at him, stricken, her face going unnaturally pale. Her pupils flared and then clouded, pain and devastation clearly outlined on her features.

"No," she whispered. "Not again. Oh God, not again. I won't survive it."

Her knees buckled and she would have gone down, but he caught her, ensuring the scarf never lost contact with her hands. He watched in horror as Ramie's body sagged, slipping from his grasp despite his best effort to support her weight. She was simply lifeless, as limp as a rag doll. He quickly followed her down to the floor, determined that she not lose her grip on Tori's scarf. But it didn't seem to matter now. Ramie was somewhere else.

Her eyes glazed over and her body began to twitch spasmodically. She curled into a fetal position, the fragility of such a self-protective measure gutting him. She moaned softly and then began to weep.

"Please don't hurt me again. Please, I'm begging you. I can't take any more. If you're going to kill me, just do it. Quit torturing me."

Chill bumps spread rapidly up Caleb's nape as Ramie's voice, which sounded nearly identical to Tori's, filled his ears. Dear God, was he witnessing what was happening to his sister through Ramie?

The scene Ramie was painting was horrifying. Not only for the fact that his sister was even now enduring the absolute worst. But from all appearances, Ramie was suffering with her.

He'd certainly done his research on Ramie St. Claire's abilities but there was little information beyond her astonishing success record. No mention of how she managed to help victims or what it did to her. God help them all. What had he done?

Find out more about Maya and her books at mayabanks.com.